Tag: Amazon Rainforest

The BR-319 Highway: A Scientist’s Call to Action for the Amazon and Beyond

March 6, 2024

Lucas Ferrante, researcher with a PhD in ecology from Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), has conducted multiple scientific studies uncovering the negative impacts of the BR-319 highway project on the Amazon rainforest.

The Amazon’s BR-319 highway, a stretch of 885.9 km, connects the central Amazonian capital, Manaus, to Porto Velho, on the southern edge of the forest. It passes through one of the most preserved blocks of the forest, where it contains an enormous stock of carbon. Ferrante’s research findings highlight the danger this project poses to 63 indigenous territories and 18,000 indigenous people, as well as to the environment, biodiversity, and the world climate.

Ferrante has consistently raised alarms about the irreversible repercussions that could result from paving the Amazon’s BR-319 highway, emphasising its potential for widespread deforestation, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, impact on indigenous communities, and increase of illegal mining, logging, and organised crime.

Moreover, Ferrante highlights the risk of spreading infectious diseases and the potential emergence of a new pandemic and pushing the forest past a tipping point. Despite encountering numerous intimidations and threats, Ferrante remains firm in his commitment, refusing to be silenced.

In a recent conversation with Ferrante, he shared his main concerns regarding the BR-319 highway project in the Amazon region.

Given the severe drought observed last year in the Amazon due to climate change, the El Niño phenomenon, deforestation, and environmental degradation, what are the expected climate consequences of paving the BR-319 highway in the Amazon, in Brazil and globally?

The Amazon rainforest is of vital importance in maintaining hydrological cycles that regulate global climate and influence precipitation patterns in the southern and south-eastern regions of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Paving the BR-319 highway could lead to deforestation shifting towards the untouched and conserved central Amazon, triggering a climate collapse within the biome and an unparalleled biodiversity crisis.

Carbon emissions resulting from deforestation and the subsequent deterioration of forest ecosystems would cause significant and irreversible consequences for the planet. This project poses a critical risk of pushing the Earth beyond the brink of climate collapse, particularly by facilitating access to oil exploration sites in the Amazon, thereby exacerbating global emissions. The result of this damage will be reverberated across the planet.

What are the potential risks and impacts on the Amazon rainforest, Brazil, and the world if the BR-319 highway is paved?

Besides deforestation, there’s an unprecedented decline in biodiversity and significant effects on both local and global climates due to the highway. Moreover, it directly affects 18,000 indigenous people, leading to violations of their civil rights. This represents the most extensive occurrence of indigenous rights violations globally, happening in the 21st century amidst the internet age, without proper reporting.

Invaders of indigenous territories have weaponised the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a devastating impact on populations. This has led to indigenous mortality rates being three times higher than those of non-indigenous people.

A hidden genocide is underway, previously overlooked by the government of former president, Jair Bolsonaro, and now President Lula’s administration. This lack of acknowledgment persists as the current government aims to facilitate oil exploration in the region.

Furthermore, the Amazon rainforest is the largest reservoir of beta coronavirus and zoonoses in the world. Forest degradation, the human presence, and greater mobility in this region can lead to zoonotic leaps where diseases stored in the forest can jump to humans, potentially sparking a fresh global pandemic or a series of them. This concern is particularly pronounced due to the proximity of Manaus, a metropolis housing over two million people, where rampant community transmission and the emergence of the highly lethal Gamma variant of Covid-19 took place.

Traces of deforestation along the BR-319 highway near Realidade. Photo credit: Evgeny Makarov.

It is important to highlight that the region lacks capability to issue an epidemiological alert for a pandemic originating within it. An example of this is the Covid-19 Gamma variant, which was identified only after crossing the Brazilian borders and spreading globally, with the first case detected in Japan.

We are at the brink of a potential new pandemic scenario, and the alterations in climate resulting from the construction of the BR-319 highway could still provide favourable conditions for these pathogens. We are on the verge of a new global situation, yet Brazilian authorities are showing negligence in addressing this matter.

The highway is contributing to the strengthening of international organised crime, which has expanded its operations beyond drug trafficking to include activities such as gold mining and land grabbing in the region.

What justifications does the Brazilian government provide for paving the BR-319 highway, and how valid are they?

The highway is not justified from an economic point of view, it lacks an economic feasibility study, known as the EVTA, stipulated by Law 5917/1973. Additionally, the BR-319 highway project failed to conduct the essential consultations with the indigenous communities, required both by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 169 and the Brazilian law 10,088/2019.

The primary transportation route in the area has traditionally been via the Madeira River, offering cost-effectiveness, safety, cleanliness, and efficiency compared to the BR-319 highway. However, the government is motivated to expand mining operations, industrial agriculture, and livestock farming in the region, as well as facilitate access to large areas for oil and gas exploration.

Brazil’s president Lula presented a “green” speech at COP28, but it seems to be pure greenwashing. Our study published in Nature reveals his genuine intentions, which focuses on ramping up fossil fuel exploration. He has given priority to the BR-319 highway project and has already auctioned off 21 oil exploration blocks in the region. Some companies, including those from Russia and China, are targeting the area, and their political alliances have strengthened these initiatives.

Numerous politicians have shown their support behind the initiative to reconstruct the BR-319 highway, desperately seeking to justify its significance for the region. They have resorted to unfounded arguments, such as associating it to the oxygen crisis in Manaus during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. They claim that with the road in operation, oxygen could have been rapidly transported to the region. However, this assertion lacks credibility, as my research had already alerted about the second wave six months earlier.

What’s Lula’s government’s approach to paving the BR-319 highway? Does he support this project?

Lula fully supports the reconstruction of the BR-319 highway, along with the exploration of oil and gas reserves in the area.

On February 1st, Brazil’s vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin, visited Manaus and stated that the government has been actively prioritising the paving of the BR-319 highway. However, his claim that the highway will be a sustainable project and that deforestation will not occur is misleading.

In his speech, he referenced the Atlantic Forest as a model for sustainability to follow. However, only 8% of the original Atlantic Forest biome remains, with more than 97% existing as fragmented forests, each covering less than 50 hectares. Roads and highways play a significant role in the degradation of the region.

Taking the Atlantic Forest scenario serves as a model for the government’s intentions regarding the Amazon. However, if this path persists, it may accelerate the collapse of the biome and the surrounding environment, with far-reaching consequences for global climate patterns.  It’s clear that Lula’s government is not prioritising environmental and climate concerns with the necessary urgency.

What are your impressions regarding the proposal put forth on December 18, 2023, concerning bill PL 4994/2023, which aims to designate the BR-319 highway as a “critical infrastructure essential to national security”, requiring the expedited licensing of the project and immediate allocation of funds?    

At this crucial point, the chamber of deputies has passed a bill designating the BR-319 highway as “critical infrastructure essential to national security.” However, the assertion regarding national security is unfounded, given that the highway has no border connections. A military general has already affirmed that the BR-319 highway does not present any national security risks.

Moreover, our research findings reveals that the BR-319 highway lacks significance as a critical infrastructure project, favouring instead the transport route via the Madeira River. Nevertheless, this legislation disregards environmental licensing procedures and the rights of indigenous communities. Additionally, it’s concerning that the Amazon Fund, designated for environmental preservation, may be allocated to pave the highway, contradicting its purpose, as the highway’s construction promotes deforestation.

As a scientist with multiple studies published in prestigious scientific journals worldwide, what types of retaliation, intimidation, and threats have you been facing due to your research and for expressing concerns about the paving of the BR-319 highway?

Despite facing relentless assaults from politicians and land grabbers, along with death threats and two additional attacks, my firm dedication remains focused on bringing the attention to the impacts of the reconstruction of the BR-319 highway.

This is not merely a road project; it represents a battle against catastrophic and irreversible consequences. Should this road be reconstructed, it will alter our world irreversibly, leading us down a road to ruin.

We can expect an era marked by extreme weather events and pandemics, making it essential for the global population to engage. This project will impact every reader, irrespective of their location, so I sincerely invite everyone to unite in this cause.

What message would you like to convey to the Brazilian and foreign governments, Brazilian and global communities, local and international NGOs, corporations, and agencies?

As outlined in our research, which appeared in the January 30 issue of Nature magazine, safeguarding the environment is a decision based on science and should not be subject to discussion.

This project is a global effort since its ramifications will be felt worldwide. It represents the primary environmental initiative presently, given its capacity to reshape our planet, be it through significant climate repercussions or the global health risks arising from the release of novel diseases stored within forests.

Every scientific investigation indicates the infeasibility of paving the BR-319 highway, given its adverse economic, social, health, and environmental effects, which will impact the global population. We must follow scientific recommendations and not negotiate the future of the planet.

If you’d like to contribute to Lucas Ferrante’s efforts to halt the progress of this project, which includes backing his scientific research, please kindly click here.

The Amazon’s Warning Call: A Potential Epicentre for the Next Pandemic

February 12, 2024

Preserving the Amazon rainforest isn’t just an environmental concern; it’s a matter of survival. It’s the most biodiverse place on the planet, a reservoir of life-saving medicines, and a critical regulator of our planet’s climate. Our health, our survival, and the balance of our world rely on its protection.

The Amazon’s diverse ecosystem is under threat from rampant deforestation, degradation, and climate change, jeopardising its ability to act as a carbon sink. This degradation increases the likelihood of zoonotic diseases emerging and spreading, posing a significant public health risk for Brazil and the world.

Climate change, deforestation, alterations in land use, agricultural expansion, livestock farming, mining activities, biodiversity loss, urbanisation, oil and gas extraction, and large-scale infrastructure developments, such as road and dam construction in the Amazon rainforest, have all been associated with the rise and spread of infectious diseases. These include dengue, yellow fever, malaria, Zika virus, Chikungunya fever, Candida auris, leishmaniasis, Oropouche virus, hantavirus, and numerous others, with the possibility of also introducing novel pathogens.

Dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever mosquito aedes aegypti on human skin
Photo 93069829 © Tacio Philip Sansonovski | Dreamstime.com

In 2023, Brazil recorded 1,079 deaths from dengue fever, a 20.9% increase compared to the previous year. According to the Ministry of Health, between January 1 and January 30, the country reported over 217,000 cases, marking a significant 233% increase from the same period in 2023, when there were just over 65,000 cases.

In 2024, Brazil recorded approximately 408,351 potential cases of dengue, as per data from the Ministry of Health’s Arbovirus Monitoring Panel.

According to a report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2023, the country experienced around 2.9 million suspected cases of dengue. This significant rise in dengue cases may be attributed to factors such as the El Niño phenomenon, deforestation, and the impact of climate change, which can lead to more frequent and severe weather events.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the vector for transmitting diseases such as the dengue virus, yellow fever, Zika, and chikungunya viruses.

Brazil’s Health Surveillance Foundation (FVS) has recently reported that a new strain of the Oropouche virus has been responsible for outbreaks in the Brazilian Amazon region over the past two years. In the state of Amazonas alone, there were 1,066 recorded cases of the virus between 2023 and 2024.

Oropouche fever is caused by an arbovirus transmitted through the bite of a mosquito called Culicoides paraense, commonly known as maruim.

The Largest Biodiversity Reservoir on the Planet

The Amazon rainforest is recognised as one of the largest reservoirs for zoonotic diseases, which can be transmitted from animals to humans. Numerous scientists have consistently warned about the environmental imbalances linked to the escalating prevalence of infectious diseases and have drawn attention to the imminent risk of a deadly pathogen emerging from the Amazon rainforest.

The interaction between humans and wild species, along with their pathogens, creates opportunities for the emergence of zoonotic diseases, facilitating the transmission of new pathogens across various host species, a phenomenon known as “spillover“, leading to the introduction of novel infections into the human population.

For spillover events to happen, there must be interaction among different species and favourable conditions for pathogens to spread among humans. One example is the transmission of bat-borne diseases, such as rabies, in the Amazon rainforest. This is often associated with factors like deforestation, agricultural expansion, and the presence of livestock, which increase contact between these animals and humans and facilitate the transmission of infections.

Various types of animals, including monkeys, bats, and mosquitoes, can serve as carriers or vectors of infectious diseases to humans, as they carry pathogens like viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, and prions. Transmission of these pathogens to humans can occur through direct contact with these animals or via water, food, or the surrounding environment.

Sars, Ebola, Hendra, and Nipah are examples of pathogens from bats that have triggered outbreaks in the human population.

Climate Change

Joel Henrique Ellwanger, biologist and researcher at the department of genetics at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), mentioned:

“Climate change will trigger important ecological changes in the Amazon, many of them with the potential to reduce its biodiversity, facilitating the spread of known disease vectors and increasing the chances of new diseases emerging.”

The impact of climate change and deforestation is causing a surge in extreme weather events and rising temperatures. These conditions are impacting the quantity of vectors, transmission patterns and interspecies interactions, driving the spread of infectious diseases across the Amazon region and throughout Brazil.

Parintins, Brazil. 08th Nov, 2023. Boats stand side by side in a narrow riverbed outside the community. The drought causes difficulties for the river dwellers in terms of fishing, but also traffic. Villages in the region are linked by rivers. The green lung of the planet, the Amazon basin in South America, is experiencing an unprecedented crisis. The world’s largest rainforest area is suffering from the worst drought in over a century. Credit: Aguilar Abecassis/dpa/Alamy Live News

Severe droughts in the Amazon rainforest can create conditions to the spread of various diseases, such as dengue. During periods of limited rainfall, residents often resort to storing water in tanks, consequently creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

“For instance, as temperatures rise, mosquitoes become more active and reproduce at a higher rate. Furthermore, changes in climate may cause animals carrying pathogens to migrate to areas where humans reside,” said Ellwanger.

The increase in cases of Candida auris, a fungus resistant to multiple drugs associated with hospital-acquired infections, may be caused by higher temperatures resulting from climate change. This pathogen affects severely ill patients, including both adults and children, who are receiving intensive care in hospitals across the globe.

Ellwanger explained how climate change may have played a role in the surge of Candida auris:

“Climate change can influence the evolution of pathogens. Certain microorganisms, once unable to infect humans because they were accustomed to lower temperatures, are now adapting to warmer conditions that mimic the human body’s warmth. This adaptation creates the potential for these microorganisms, typically present in soil and similar settings, to infect humans and cause illnesses. This phenomenon is believed to have happened with Candida auris.”

Deforestation and Urbanisation

Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. Patch of forest land cleared of vegetation for agricultural purposes.
Credit: ID248036003 © J Brarymi | Dreamstime.com

Studies suggest that deforestation, biodiversity loss and habitat degradation create pathways for disease agents to transition from the diverse reservoir of various coronaviruses and pathogens in the region into the human population. The Amazon’s vulnerable healthcare system additionally complicates the detection and containment of any emerging pandemic from this area.

When exploring the emergence of epidemics, urbanisation becomes another critical factor to consider. It contributes to the depletion of forested areas, consequently increasing the risk of infectious diseases in regions like the Amazon rainforest. The outbreak of Zika virus infection in Brazil has been associated with urbanization and the loss of forested lands.

Infrastructure Projects

The construction of roads in the Amazon rainforest contributes to deforestation, forest fires, biodiversity decline, increased hunting activities, and human migration, directly impacting the dynamics of infectious diseases.

Between 1970 and 1973, the building of the Trans-Amazonian highway, known as BR-230, led to the influx of around 22,000 individuals to the area. These individuals encountered disease vectors, exposing them to various illnesses such as malaria, leptospirosis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, Mayaro fever, yellow fever, and numerous others.

A study published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities warns that the reconstruction of the Amazon’s BR-319 highway could result in devastating environmental effects, including an increased risk of zoonotic spillovers, potentially leading to new pandemics.

The Amazon’s BR-319 highway, extends 885.9 km and connects the central Amazonian capital Manaus to the southern boundary of the forest in Porto Velho, crossing through one of the most preserved sections of the forest. Deforestation along the central portion of the BR-319 has already resulted in a 400% increase in malaria cases.

A recent study published in Nature alerts that the initiatives of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration to construct roads and pursue oil exploration in the Amazon area may potentially trigger a new worldwide pandemic.

The construction of hydroelectric dams in the Amazon rainforest also raises significant concern. One example is the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam complex in Brazil, located in the northern region of the Xingu River within the state of Pará. This project has significantly changed the landscape of the Brazilian Amazon, inundating an area of approximately 516 km2.

Flooding dry regions within the rainforest leads to loss of biodiversity and creates habitats suitable for disease vectors like mosquitoes, thereby intensifying the proliferation of viral and parasitic illnesses.

Dams can lead to the displacement of communities and the migration of populations drawn to forested regions, potentially increasing human-wildlife interactions, and the transmission of infectious diseases.

The implementation of proposed projects in the Amazon rainforest, including the reconstruction of BR-319 highway and the exploration of oil, could result in catastrophic and irreversible consequences, including an increase and spread of infectious diseases, due to environmental degradation in the region.

Agriculture and Livestock

A group of cattle in confinement in Brazil
Credit: ID196817068 © Alf Ribeiro | Dreamstime.com

“Meat connects different points involving the degradation of the Amazon and emerging diseases. Cattle farming is one of the main factors in the degradation of the Amazon biome, thus facilitating the spread of pathogens in the region. Hunting and the consumption of wild animal meat is a problem both for the conservation of species and for public health, as it reduces animal biodiversity and increases the chances of spillover events. Regrettably, this issue remains largely overlooked and is often deemed taboo in Brazil,” explained Ellwanger.

Studies suggest that intensified agriculture and forest conversion for farming and pasture for cattle, increase human-pathogen interaction, promoting the emergence of viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections.

Professionals in the meat industry regularly interact with livestock animals and may lack adequate working conditions to reduce the risk of zoonotic pathogen transmission. Additionally, they may have limited knowledge about the health risks associated with their work activities.

Slaughterhouses within the Amazon region are implicated in the processing of animals sourced from deforested areas and may be operating without any form of health inspection.

Another concern is the excessive use of antimicrobial drugs in veterinary practice. The main drivers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) include the overuse of antibiotics in livestock for growth promotion and prevent diseases, particularly in intensified livestock farming.

Antimicrobial resistance AMR concept. Desk in the hospital.
Credit: ID117616099 © Designer491 | Dreamstime.com

The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes AMR as the overlooked pandemic. Some of the latest figures suggest that AMR will cause 10 million deaths by the year 2050, more than from cancer, diabetes and pneumococcal diseases combined.

According to Cóilín Nunan, scientific adviser to the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, certain types of antibiotics used in animal farming have led to the rise and spread of livestock associated strains of MRSA and Clostidrium difficile.

Oxford University scientists published a study revealing Escherichia coli bacteria that have developed resistance to colistin in animal agriculture. Nunan highlights this as a significant concern, suggesting it might pose a greater threat than antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by potentially increasing the likelihood of infections in humans.

Bushmeat

The hunting and consumption of bushmeat from wild animals can also lead to spillover events, as humans come into close contact with fresh meat, blood, and organs from infected animals.

Approximately 473 tons of wild animal meat are sold annually in the Amazon rainforest, across Colombia, Peru, and Brazil.

It’s essential to recognise that a complete ban on bushmeat consumption in certain regions could impact the livelihoods of thousands who depend on this activity.

Essential Measures

In a conversation with Ellwanger regarding the essential measures required to prevent the emergence and spread of infectious diseases in the Amazon rainforest and avert the onset of a new pandemic in the region, he explained:

“Certain crucial measures must be undertaken, including improving livestock sanitary measures, increasing pathogen surveillance, upgrading environmental sanitation systems, discouraging human settlement in forested regions, boosting investments in human training and specialised labs for pathogen identification, creating new vaccines, and examining biological and social factors affecting infection susceptibility.

“The loss of biodiversity in the Amazon is mainly caused by livestock farming, mining activities and monoculture cultivation, especially soy. Combating these activities is the responsibility of the Brazilian Government by strengthening environmental protection bodies, preserving, and expanding indigenous territories, and committing to a serious environmental agenda,” added Ellwanger.

Furthermore, urgent action is needed to prioritise reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally, alongside combating deforestation and protecting indigenous territories. It’s crucial to reassess infrastructure projects and manage human activities in the region carefully. Suspending oil and gas exploration in the Amazon is essential, as is regulating the expansion of intensive agriculture, cattle farming, and mining projects.

Ellwanger explained that preserving the Amazon rainforest should be in everyone’s interest:

“The preservation of the Amazon isn’t just about protecting nature – it’s about safeguarding our own health. Let’s commit to conserving this vital ecosystem to ensure that the threats of potential pathogens stay confined to the wild, far from endangering human lives. After all, the health of the Amazon means the health of us all.”

The BR-319 Highway: Amazon’s Trojan Horse

08 November 2023

The Amazon drought in Brazil is unleashing a wave of environmental, health, economic, and social disruptions in the region, becoming a controversial and convenient tool manipulated by a group of politicians and business leaders to promote an ambitious infrastructure project – the reconstruction of the BR-319 highway, a stretch of 885.9 km, connecting the capital Manaus in central Amazonia to the southern edge of the forest, Porto Velho.

Pink river dolphins and fish are dying, as the Madeira, Negro and Solimões rivers reach record low water levels. This dire situation in the state of Amazonas, marked by scorching heat waves, smoke, insufficient rainfall, and severe drought, is a direct consequence of climate change, the El Niño phenomenon, deforestation, and ecosystem degradation.

The drought in the Amazon is obstructing the delivery of raw materials to the region, given that transportation primarily relies on river routes. Certain areas are facing shortages of food, medicine, drinking water, and even energy, leading to rationing measures.

Grain exporters are experiencing disruptions in their planned shipments to northern Brazilian ports because of the Amazon River drought and its limited navigational capabilities. Consequently, they’re forced to reroute their shipments to terminals in the southern and southeastern areas.

Lobbying and Misleading Pretexts

Lobbying world cloud sphere concept – Photo 124523602 | Lobbying © Spettacolare | Dreamstime.com

A strong lobbying effort led by a coalition of nearly 200 politicians, with the backing of certain media outlets, is escalating. They are using the Amazon drought as a justification to push for the reconstruction of BR-319, a road connecting Manaus, the capital of the Amazon, to Porto Velho. This action disregards the multitude of studies and scientific evidence that highlight the potential social, economic, health and environmental consequences this project may impose on the region.

A coalition consisting of state and federal representatives, senators, and governors from the Amazonian regions created the ‘Parliamentary Front for the Revival of BR-319.’ This group, led by Deputy Fausto Santos Junior, is advocating for the revival of the BR-319 highway.

Pressure is mounting from various directions as business representatives from the states of Rondônia, Roraima, and Amazonas participated in a virtual meeting with Santos Junior on October 25th. During this meeting, they urged the federal government to initiate the reconstruction of the BR-319 highway.

Santos Junior explained the delay in the approval of the BR-319 highway project when questioned by Debate Politico,

“The real reason is an environmentalist militancy in an institutional form, I will translate this word, these are people who follow the interests of international NGOs that are interested in harming Brazil’s development, that is the truth… These NGOs are financed with foreign capital… This is a form of commercial warfare that is carried out through these NGOs. This is already being investigated in the Senate through the CPI (parliamentary commission of inquiry) of NGOs, which is chaired by Senator Plínio Valério.”

Is the scrutiny of NGOs in Brazil being utilised as a strategy to reduce their influence on environmental protocols, possibly paving the way for large-scale projects in the Amazon without adhering to essential assessments, as well as reshaping partnerships away from Western partners to alternative stakeholders?

Deputy Fausto Santos Junior did not respond to my request for an interview.

Luiz Gastaldi Junior, owner of Nova Era supermarket chain and partner at Floresta Logistica, a logistics company, also expressed his concerns,

“In reality, it is a denial of citizenship, to all these people who are living and taking care of the Amazon, because in reality the integration of the Amazon, it is part of the national project to defend the Amazon, so the moment you deny access, you are also denying that there can be normal activity here.”

Gastaldi Junior is presently under investigation in Manaus for suspected involvement in the unlawful transportation of mining products, including gold.

Adelio Barofaldi, president of the Board of Directors of Pan Amazonia, president of the Association of Rural Landowners of Rondônia (ARPRO) and CEO of Rovema Group, expressed his full support for the BR-319 highway project. Barofaldi owns the largest network of car and truck dealers in the state and invests in energy and livestock.

Jonathan Benchimol, a prominent entrepreneur and managing partner at Fogás, a gas distribution company, is actively advocating for the restoration of the BR-319 highway,

“I’d like to remind people that during the oxygen crisis that occurred here in the city of Manaus and in the state of Amazonas during the Covid-19 scenario, the number of fatalities would have been much lower if BR-319 had been paved, oxygen could have flowed from Rondônia and other states of the federation through BR-319.”

In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Manaus was recognized as one of the global Covid-19 epicenters, where the Gamma variant originated and accounted for two-thirds of Covid-19 deaths in Brazil. In 2021, during the second wave of the pandemic, oxygen supplies were allowed to run out with catastrophic consequences.

Politicians and business leaders are exploiting the catastrophic pandemic oxygen crisis in the Amazon as a pretext to push for the BR-319 highway project.

Studies carried out by renowned scientists Lucas Ferrante and Philip Fearnside, revealed that the devastating oxygen crisis in Manaus during the second wave of Covid-19, was the result of the Bolsonaro’s administration’s lack of logistical strategy. They chose to distribute oxygen in the region based on an impassable BR-319 highway, instead of using the most appropriate and safest transportation method, the Madeira River.

This tragic incident, resulting in hundreds of avoidable deaths, continues to be exploited for political purposes, advocating for infrastructure projects in the region, such as the BR-319 highway project.

The lobbying groups supporting the BR-319 highway project seem to be primarily interested in capitalising on the economic potential of the Amazon, with little concern on environmental, health and social issues.

Opponents Face Abuse and Intimidation

Marina Silva, Brazil minister of environment and climate change, has been the subject of numerous assaults and harassment from a group of legislators who endorse the BR-319 highway project. They have labeled her as guilty, an enemy, and accused her of practicing cross-eyed politics.

“The people of the North are not second-rate people. We want respect, investments and infrastructure. Marina Silva is an enemy of BR-319,” said federal deputy Captain Alberto Neto on Instagram on September 27. Neto is a supporter of former president Jair Bolsonaro. He called Silva “the enemy of the North.”

Source: Capitao Alberto Neto’s Instagram

In September, senator Omar Aziz declared, “if any Amazonian goes hungry, it’s Marina Silva’s fault”, as Silva is against the reconstruction of BR-319 highway without a solid basis in technical assessments. She is deeply concerned about the potential social and environmental consequences of this project.

Scientists who voice their concerns regarding the social and environmental implications of the BR-319 project also face intimidation, verbal attacks and even death threats.

The Intercept Brasil conducted an interview with Ferrante at a point when he could share his distressing experience. During this time, he had become the focal point of persecution, intimidation, and death threats due to his revelation, through his research, of the erosion of the Bolsonaro government’s environmental policies. He also predicted and warned the government about the second wave of Covid-19 in Manaus.

In September 2021, Fearnside became the victim of a xenophobic assault during a public hearing regarding the approval of the BR-319 highway project in Amazonas. This incident occurred after Fearnside had voiced criticism of the BR-319 highway project’s execution.

Fearnside responded to the verbal attack,

“At the time I was giving this speech, I also received attacks from other people who were in the audience. It’s important not to be intimidated by this, and it’s also good to remember the Constitution that prohibits any type of discrimination, based on national origin. The most important thing is not the episode itself, but the subject of BR-319.”

Health, Social & Environmental Impact

Lucas Ferrante, an environmental scientist, and Philip Fearnside, a biologist at Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) and, who, together with other scientists in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, have jointly published multiple scientific studies that reveal the negative impacts of the BR-319 highway project on the Amazon rainforest.

“The reconstruction of BR-319 highway would provide agribusiness access to additional land, engage in more intensive livestock farming, and implement monoculture practices for large-scale biofuel production. Scientific studies published in both Land Use Policy and Nature suggest that this project could serve as an incentive for the expansion of cattle ranching, fossil fuel exploration and mining projects,” noted Ferrante.

Given the absence of governance in the vicinity of the BR-319 highway and the consistent pattern of deforestation along most Amazonian roads, the choice to reconstruct the BR-319 highway will bring catastrophic consequences. This decision will not only impact indigenous and riverside communities, it will also escalate deforestation rates, potentially leading to the collapse of the rainforest and the country’s rain cycle, as pointed out by a study published in Die Erde.

“Brazil must reassess infrastructure projects that increase deforestation in the region, and this includes examining the BR-319 highway project, which currently has 6,000 km of illicit extensions, a length six times greater than that of the BR-319 highway,” mentioned Ferrante.

The highway’s reconstruction is missing an essential economic feasibility study, as mandated by Law 5917/1973, and it has failed to undergo the necessary consultations with indigenous communities, as required by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 169 and Brazilian law 10,088/2019.

Fearnside revealed,

“Since 2015, the “maintenance” initiative for segments of the BR-319 highway has notably improved its trafficability. This initiative serves as a means to bypass the regulatory licensing process.

“Furthermore, the delay in the highway’s complete reconstruction can be attributed not only to its questionable economic viability, but also to the absence of an IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) license. Had a license been secured, it is likely that politicians would have allocated funds for the reconstruction, despite being aware of its economic impracticality.”

The BR-319 highway is not the only project we should be concerned about, explained Fearnside,

“Generally, there is a tendency to avoid any discussion of controversial infrastructure projects that are linked to the one that has a pending license. In this case, virtually all discussion is limited to the roadside of the BR-319 itself, ignoring the far-reaching effects of the side roads that a planned to link to this highway.  

Most important is the planned AM-366 highway, which would allow deforesters to enter the vast area of the rainforest in the “Trans-Purus” region to the west of BR-319. Those evaluating the license application for the BR-319 highway project need to understand that approval would surely lead to subsequent building of the AM-366 highway, with enormous impacts for Brazil.

AM-366, classified as a state road, offers a relatively simpler licensing process. Plans in the area around this road include the oil and gas drilling blocks granted to the Russian oil company Rosneft in the planned “Solimões Sedimentary Area” project. AM-366 would also give access to a large area of “undesignated public land”, which is the most attractive for land grabbers, squatters, loggers and others. This situation could result in extensive deforestation, posing a catastrophic threat not only to Brazil but also to the global environment.”

A study conducted by Ferrante and Fearnside reveals the Amazon rainforest as a potential origin of the next pandemic. The study highlights how deforestation creates opportunities for disease agents to transition from the vast reservoir of various types of coronaviruses and other pathogens in the region into the human population. The Amazon’s precarious healthcare system further complicates the identification and containment of a new pandemic that might emerge from this area.

“Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and other tropical regions increases the risk of emergence of new human diseases by increasing contact between rainforest wildlife (such as bats) and the human population and its domestic animals. It also contributes to climate change, which can create conditions favoring the emergence of parasitic, fungal, viral and bacterial infections,” explained Fearnside.

Politicians in the state of Amazonas are avid to have the BR-319 highway project approved, as its value in attracting votes is, as Ferrante and Fearnside’s publications show, the real motivation for the project. There are also backers of the project who stand to make substantial profits from the road. Meanwhile, traditional communities and the Amazon rainforest are left in a struggle for survival, gasping for breath, as they endure the adverse consequences.

The Amazon & Brazil’s Ravenous Appetite for Biofuels

20 Mar 2023

There was a sense of hope and great relief at COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, in November 2022, when Brazil’s newly elected president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, pledged to end deforestation in the Amazon rainforest by 2030.

“There is no climate security for the world without a protected Amazon. We will do whatever it takes to have zero deforestation and degradation of our biomes by 2030”, Lula stated.

Lula and his administration are already facing countless tough new challenges trying to curb deforestation in the region. This task may not be as simple as it seemed, requiring taking sensible and robust measures in order to reverse the past years’ dismantling of environmental laws.

Lula’s government is trying to seize a tremendously lucrative opportunity, hoping to promote and develop a bioeconomy in the Amazon. One of the sectors bringing high investments to the region is the biofuel industry.

The Brazilian government’s decision to open the Amazon to the expansion of biofuel production, whilst lucrative, is extremely concerning. According to scientists and their studies, the socio-environmental impacts of this industry may be catastrophic and a catalyst to increasing greenhouse gas emissions, water use, soil degradation, land use conflicts and deforestation.

In Brazil, leading scientists and researchers, Lucas Ferrante and Philip Fearnside, mentioned that phasing out oil and gas on the schedule imposed by the 1.5C global heating limit, means that Brazil, like many other countries, must adjust its energy plans across several areas, including biofuels.

According to both scientists, the Amazon will need protection from deforestation for growing sugar cane and palm oil and must use its zoning mechanism to exclude these plantations from the region. Ferrante and Fearnside call for importing countries to refuse purchasing biofuels produced in the Amazon.

The production of fuel ethanol in Brazil reached 7.42 billion gallons in 2022, representing 26 percent of the global output.

Corn ethanol production in Brazil increased by almost 800% in the last five years, gone from 520 million liters in the 2017/18 to 4.5 billion in the 2022/23, and expected to reach 10 billion liters by 2030, as stated by CNI, the National Confederation of Industry.

Brazil’s Historic Addiction to Alcohol

Photo 235489969 © Alexander Mirt | Dreamstime.com

Brazil is the second largest fuel ethanol producer globally (behind the United States) since 2002.

The country’s relationship with the ethanol industry is undoubtedly solid and goes back as early as the 1920s, when the government began funding research using ethanol in cars. In 1975, the military government created the National Ethanol Program (Proálcool) and in 1979 it came to develop and launch ethanol-fuelled cars.

In order to cut down greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050, Brazil launched a program in 2017, Renovabio, demanding fuel distributors to purchase biofuel credits, known as CBIOs, to meet their decarbonisation targets.

There are a number of controversial views among experts highlighting possible adverse environmental and social side effects as a result of this program.

Renovabio was criticised about the number of CBIOs that need to be purchased set by the government. As there’s no proportionate quota for the number that needs to be created, affecting availability and driving fuel costs up to distributors, consequently passing it on to consumers. Additionally, there’s also a possibility that high credit prices will drive a large number of new ethanol projects in the country.

In April 2022, a study published at the Resources, Conservation and Recycling indicated that the Renovabio policy does not cover the impacts of land use change (LUC) through its life cycle assessment (LCA), for calculating greenhouse emissions from biofuel, moving in the opposite direction of international policies.

Land use change and deforestation accounted for 45% of Brazil’s 2019 greenhouse gas emissions (Observatório do Clima, 2020).

According to researchers from Lancaster University, if the world relies on carbon offsetting and the hope of future technologies to extract carbon from the atmosphere, rather than reducing emissions at source, then up to 1.4°C extra warming could occur.

In January, the result of a joint investigation by The Guardian, Source Material and the German Die Zeit, suggested that carbon offsets approved by Verra, the world’s leading carbon credit certifier, are worthless. Based on the analysis, more than 90% of their rainforest offset credits do not represent genuine carbon reductions.

Investors, financiers, banks, corporations and governments, love the idea of carbon offsetting, as it generates capital, a new profitable trading sector for them to explore.

Biofuels – An Alternate Perspective

Photo 147165921 / Amazon © Travelstrategy | Dreamstime.com

Biofuels are made from renewable biomass, based on agricultural products, including sugar cane, corn, castor bean, palm oil and raw materials of animal origin.

“We need to increase the percentage of biodiesel in diesel, it is at 10% and has already been 13%, it was reduced in the last government,” said Geraldo Alckmin, Brazil’s Vice-president in February.

Biofuel mandates in several countries have created an insatiable market for crops, such as corn, sugar cane, palm oil, grains and many more.

The Czech Republic has taken a completely different approach. In March 2022, their government decided to end its mandate requiring ethanol to be blended with petrol, a measure taken in order to address the increasing cost of fuel and food. Germany and Belgium are considering easing biofuel-blending mandates to address food security.

According to a Brussels-based environmental campaigns group, Transport & Environment, the FAO Food Price index for vegetable oils reached an all time high in 2021, increasing by over 70%, compared to the previous five years. For cereal (wheat and corn), the increase was by over a third in 2021.

For many of these vegetable oils and cereal, the price increase is linked to the demand for biofuels, which is driven by flawed policies based on the belief that biofuels can help bring greenhouse gas emissions down in the transport sector – which they don’t.

Maik Marahrens, biofuels manager at Transport & Environment, said:

“Right now we surrender vast swathes of land for crops that we simply burn in our cars. It’s a scandalous waste. This land could feed millions of people or, if given back to nature, provide carbon sinks rich in biodiversity. Crop biofuels are probably the dumbest thing ever promoted in the name of the climate,”

“Biofuels are a failed experiment. To continue to burn food as fuel while the world is facing a growing global food crisis is borderline criminal. Countries like Germany and Belgium are discussing limiting food crop biofuels in response. The rest of Europe must follow suit”, added Marahrens.

Dr. Giuseppe Bagnato, lecturer in chemical engineering at school of engineering at Lancaster University, has been working in biofuel productions since 2010. During our conversation this month, he mentioned:

“Edible biomass, such as food crops, cannot be considered as long strategy for biofuel production, due to land use, water footprint, the environmental impact, an example is deforestation for palm oil tree cultivation, also leading to price competition between its use as fuel or food,”

“Local governments and businesses across society must accept that the transition to a sustainable future should be driven by investment through the circular economy: waste valorisation for producing goods and services for our community,” he added.

Amazon rainforest – Photograph: Gleycon Silva, Ecologist & PhD student from INPA

According to the late professor of ecology and agricultural sciences at Cornell University, Dr. David Pimentel, and his countless studies, there is simply not enough land, water and energy to produce biofuels.

There are also a number of environmental problems linked to converting crops for biofuels, including water pollution from fertilisers and pesticides, global warming, air pollution and soil erosion.

Pimentel did some calculations, adding all the imports for the production of ethanol, including machinery, seeds, labour, water, electricity, fertiliser, insecticide, fuel, electricity and transport. He discovered that to produce 1 litre of fuel-graded ethanol (5,130 kcal), it would require an energy input of 6,600 kcal, making biofuel production a negative energy process.

The authors of the study, Biofuels Ignite Food Crisis Debate, concluded the following:

“Growing crops for biofuels not only ignores the need to reduce natural resource consumption, but exacerbates the problem of malnourishment worldwide by turning food grain into biofuels. Increased use of biofuels further damages the global environment and especially the world food system.”

The results of a US study, Environmental Outcomes of the US Renewable Fuel Standard, demonstrated that high demand for crops for use as biofuel feedstock and the associated changes to landscapes may also endanger broader environmental disservices upon ground and surface waters, soil resources, and other ecosystem components.

Brazilian Biofuel Companies & Human Rights Violations

Photo 198653214 / Amazon © Eduardo Teixeira | Dreamstime.com

According to an investigation by Global Witness, Agropalma and Brasil Biofuels (BBF), two Brazilian palm oil giants, were accused of being involved in conflicts with local communities in the state of Pará.

BBF was accused of environmental crimes and conducting violent campaigns to silence indigenous and traditional communities. The company filed over 550 police reports against community members in an attempt to silence the protests of the indigenous peoples.

The company operates at the heart of the Amazon, as well as in the states of Acre, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima. In the Amazon, BBF has two thermoelectric plants and  building a new biorefinery, as well as a biodiesel production plant.

Agropalma was linked to evicting communities and land grabbing. The company controls 107,000 hectares of land, the size of 150,000 football fields.

In February, Agropalma had its palm oil certification suspended for violations of the criteria of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil, RSPO, by IBD, the largest certifier in Latin America.

Palm plantations in the state of Pará cover an area that used to be rainforest, approximately 226,834 hectares, almost the size of Luxembourg.

According to a study by scientists Lucas Ferrante and Philip Fearnside, published by Regional Environmental Change journal, biofuel companies, including Millenium Bioenergia, are consolidating a production chain of biofuels and food products from monocultures in Amazonian Indigenous lands and other traditional communities.

Millenium announced that it would “partner” with indigenous and traditional communities, offering them unpaid work to produce corn, fish, chickens, and pigs and confined cattle. This not only violates human rights, but also has the potential to trigger new pandemics as a result of zoonotic leaps due to environmental degradation.

We all have a common goal, which is incredibly challenging, to fight climate change by protecting what we have left of our fauna and flora, the indigenous and traditional communities, and avoid further biodiversity decline, deforestation and devastation.

Transitioning from fossil fuels into biofuels seems to be the easiest and most profitable solution, but a number of studies suggest that this may not be the perfect solution and may impact heavily on all our lives, including food security, water scarcity, land use and the environment.

Growing food for energy seems completely and utterly irrational. This is not a green technology.

Why do governments continue to subsidise this industry?

Our leaders, governments and corporations must understand that the price to save our planet will be costly in the short to mid-term, but profitable and essential in the long run.

This must be a transparent process, involving willpower, a long range strategic plan and large amount of investment; otherwise, we may be faced with a chaotic scenario in which humanity will be forced to pay in ways that go beyond money!

Using Science to Block a Road to Ruin – The Amazon BR-319

23 Feb 2023

According to two prominent scientists, Lucas Ferrante and Philip Fearnside, and the result of their studies, the ambitious reconstruction of the BR-319 highway, linking the capital Manaus in central Amazonia to the southern edge of the forest, Porto Velho, might be a catalyst to rampant deforestation with irreversible and catastrophic consequences to the rainforest.

BR-319, a stretch of 830 km, connecting the ‘arc of deforestation’, was inaugurated in March 1976, during the military dictatorship, under the government of General Ernesto Geisel, and abandoned in 1988. In 2015, Dilma Roussef’s government proposed reopening BR-319.

“The BR-319 highway cuts through one of the most preserved blocks of the forest, where it contains an enormous stock of carbon. This project is a threat to 63 indigenous lands and 18,000 indigenous people, not to mention the environment and biodiversity”, mentioned Lucas Ferrante, environmental scientist.

Brazilian Amazonia and Highway BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho). Source: map produced by scientist Lucas Ferrante in the ArcGIS software, deforestation data from INPE 2021.

Despite the warnings from scientists about the negative consequences this project may bring to the region, it’s considered a priority for Brazil’s new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During an interview with a radio station in Manaus last September, he mentioned:

“We do not want to transform the state of Amazonas into a sanctuary for humanity. Millions of people live in the state of Amazonas. We have to give these people the right to civility, the right to live well, the right to come and go. It is entirely possible for you to work the climate issue correctly, work the environmental issue correctly and provide the necessary security so that you can build good roads that can connect the state of Amazonas with the rest of the country.”

However, according to Lucas Ferrante, the newly elected president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, only replicates a political boast that it is possible to establish territorial governance.

“We need to make some things clear, this is just political rhetoric, a bravado that does not consolidate. According to a study we published at Land Use Policy, the BR-319 highway area had a deforestation rate of up to 2.6 times higher than the deforestation rates observed in other parts of the Amazon, i.e., the state of Amazonas is no longer a isolated sanctuary, yet another area increasingly occupied by criminal organisations that encourage land grabbing and deforestation”, argues Ferrante.

“In addition, people have always had the right to come and go by other modes of transport, but they do not have the right to collapse one of the most biodiverse blocks of the rainforest, which is home to a wide variety of native peoples and which consequently, if deforested, could collapse the global climate,” added Ferrante.

Scientific Studies Raising Red Flags

Lucas Ferrante, environmental scientist, and Philip Fearnside, a biologist at Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) and Nobel Peace Prize winner for climate research (2007), both published various scientific studies highlighting the negative effects of this project on the Amazon rainforest.

The highway is a free path to illegal side roads in areas of large concentration of indigenous land, legal reserves and conservation units, giving illegal miners, loggers, squatters and land grabbers access to untouched forest and public lands.

Illegal timber seized by IBAMA agents along the BR-319 highway. Photo by scientist Lucas Ferrante.

As a consequence, these invaders are bringing a wave of destruction, instability, pollution, violence, disease, decay and death to the traditional communities, indigenous people and the environment around them.

In October 2021, a Washington Post journalist, Terrence McCoy and scientist Lucas Ferrante, set themselves on a journey across the length of BR-319 highway, showing the path of destruction and devastation caused by illegal deforestation, land grabbing, mining, fires, violence and even killings. The burnt body of a dead man was found along the way after he had reported land-grabbing activities in the area to the federal police.

Photo of a burnt dead body around BR-319. Photo by scientist Lucas Ferrante.

In 2017, buildings belonging to IBAMA (Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) in Humaitá were set on fire by miners and remain inoperative.

It is estimated that BR-319 and planned side roads will generate an increase of the deforested area by more than 1,200% between the highway and Brazil’s border with Peru. This projection relates to central Amazon alone, if extended to Peru, the numbers would increase significantly.

According to a scientific article published in the journal Land Use Policy by both Ferrante and Fearnside, despite environmental legislation requiring an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for one of the stretches of the highway, the project was given the green light from a judge, who authorised it without an EIA.

Additionally, the reconstruction of the highway lacks an economic viability study, EVTEA, required by law 5917/1973, as well as consultation with indigenous people required by International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 169 and by Brazilian law 10,088/2019.

The main transport route used in the region has always been via the Madeira River, making it a cheaper, cleaner and safer way to transport goods.

Fernanda Meirelles, executive secretary of the BR-319 Observatory, commented during our interview earlier this month:

“The LP, Preliminary License, was issued without consultations with the indigenous people and traditional communities, an important stage of the process that was not respected. We do not know whether consultations will be carried out in this current government or whether an intervention by the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) will be necessary to fullfil the obligation of consultation”,

“Public hearings were held during the pandemic, but in an inadequate way. There was no logistical support to guarantee the presence of traditional communities and indigenous people, in additional to having been held at a very inhospitable moment for any time of contrary opinion or manifestation. We even witnessed attacks suffered by researcher and scientist, Phillip Fearnside, during these public hearings”, added Meirelles.

According to data released by SEEG, the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimation System, between 2018 and 2019, the municipalities surrounding BR-319 highway had a staggering 16% increase in greenhouse gas emissions from land use and agriculture.

The reopening of this highway would also give agribusiness access to more land for expansion, including cattle farming, soy and palm oil plantations, monoculture expansion for large-scale biofuel production, as well as fossil fuel companies, hydroelectric dams, mining, etc.

As various studies indicate, including the ones published at Land Use Policy, and Environmental Conservation, these practices are already happening with the maintenance works of the road and would increase exponentially with the reconstruction of the BR-319 highway.

Deforested and burned area along the middle stretch of BR-319 highway. Photo by scientist Lucas Ferrante.

There’s still no information about the costs and sources of funds for this gigantic project. The same applies to a very essential monitoring system project, which was never presented.

Profiteers – All Eyes Focused on the Amazon

There are countless politicians, corporations, governmental agencies and organisations with either a hidden or visible interest in the reconstruction of BR-319 and hoping it succeeds. This project is a gateway to a heaven of natural resources waiting to be exploited and the highway will make their journey a much smoother process.

According to Fearnside, Rosneft, a giant Russian oil and gas company, with drilling rights to 16 extraction blocks located west of BR-319, approximately 35 km from the Purus River, by the Solimões Basin, would be one of the beneficiaries of the project.

Another very concerning sector is biofuel production in the Amazon. Biofuels are produced based on agricultural products, including sugar cane, corn, castor bean, palm oil and raw materials of animal origin.

According to a Global Witness report, BBF Group (Brasil Biofuels) and Agrapalma, two Brazilian palm oil (azeite de dendê) giants, are accused of various violations in the Amazon, including conflict with local communities, violent campaigns to silence indigenous communities and fraudulent land grabs.

BBF is the largest producer of palm oil in Latin America, also active in thermoelectric generation and biodiesel in the Amazon region (Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima and Pará). The company announced that it‘s going to invest R$5 billion over the next three years in the production of biofuels, including corn ethanol. The BR-319 project would certainly facilitate their business developments in the region.

Studies coordinated by Ferrante point out that the expansion of plantations for the production of biofuels in the Amazon tends to encourage deforestation and collapse the forest, in addition to providing zoonotic jumps of viruses stored in the forest, generating a new global pandemic.

Based on scientific research, Ferrante managed to overthrow a presidential decree that released sugarcane to the Amazon, but according to him, corn and palm oil are still crops that have an enormous potential for environmental damage and to generate deforestation, demanding economic ecological zoning mainly for the BR-319 highway area.

Politicians, infrastructure companies, national and international corporations, all show great interest in this ambitious project, as the highway would be key to their business expansion.

The voice of a public figure and politician, the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, would have been a great opportunity for us to understand more about this challenging project. Unfortunately, Lima did not respond to a request for an interview.

The only NGO in the region that agreed to be interviewed about the BR-319 project was IDESAM/BR-319 Observatory.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation failed to respond a request for an interview.  Funbio responded, but failed to answer questions about the project.

Fundo JBS pela Amazônia mentioned that they we were unable to contribute to this matter, because the reconstruction of BR-319 had nothing to do with the fund and that this is not something that directly impacts their projects.

WWF Brasil did not have a spokesperson available to answer questions related to the project and asked that any questions be directed to BR-319 Observatory.

National and international media, politicians, corporations, governmental agencies, as well as some NGOs, seem to be reluctant to talk about the reconstruction of the BR-319 highway.

All studies so far show that this project lacks environmental governance and would be detrimental to the local communities as well as the rainforest. It also lacks an economic viability study, a monitoring system plan and consultation with the traditional and indigenous communities.

This appears to be a politically motivated plan with every president elected repeatedly making the same promise, selling the idea that the reconstruction of BR-319 highway would bring prosperity to the region, without considering that it may also bring pollution, illegal activities, violence, diseases, rampant and irreversible deforestation and destruction to the rainforest with catastrophic consequences to Brazil and the rest of the world.

If completed, this project may put in jeopardy the future and survival of the Amazon rainforest, all in the name of what they call “progress”!

Article available in Portuguese at A Escola Legal.